Season Review: Close Enough Season Three

J.G. Quintel and company are back at it again with a new season of the HBO Max series: Close Enough. Josh, Emily, Candice, and the rest of the gang are back for more adult problems and odd encounters. Season 3 gives us more of the surrealist humor and antics we’ve come to expect from the series, but it still feels refreshing.

It’s been established that J.G. Quintel’s shows follow a certain formula. At its core, Close Enough has a similar plot and episode structure to Regular Show. That’s certainly not a bad thing, however, as it’s been proven to work for both series.

Season 3 continues to entertain us with its use of surrealist humor, as well as making topical jokes and references. The show also makes some nods to Quintel’s previous work, which isn’t new, but it takes a different approach this time around. There’s a little more creativity with the meta humor in this season, which is great for the sake of variety.

The new season also continues to balance the focus between Josh and Emily and the other characters. The balance is better achieve this time around and the episodes feel more evenly focused. In addition to that and the usual brand of humor, we also see some touching family moments in Season 3. The previous two seasons had these sprinkled in as well, but that seems to be more of a recurring theme this season than in the others. Whether it’s Josh and Emily on their honeymoon or Emily wanting to spend more time with Candice, we’re treated with both heartfelt and comedic family bonding scenes that make the season stand out.

Like the past two season, Season 3 only consists of eight episodes. It may not be long, but it’s not lacking in quality. Season 2, while still good, felt like a step down from the first season. The focus of the characters was a little unbalanced and there were one or two episodes that just didn’t click with me. Thankfully, the show was able to rebound with this third season. It fixes the balance issues and I can’t think of a single episode from this season that I didn’t like.

Not every joke hits this season and some of the references made feel shoehorned in, but those are things that have been prevalent in the previous two season as well. Regardless, Close Enough delivers with another strong season. Season 3 is about on par with Season 1, maybe even a tad better. Here’s hoping that we just keep getting more of this clever and bizarre show.